This helps explain why, even though the United States has overall rates of violent crime in line with rates in other developed nations, our homicide rate is, relatively speaking, off the charts. (1. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.)

Data from 2008 in Chicago show that 81 percent of homicides were committed with guns and that 91 percent of homicide offenders had a prior arrest record. (2. Gun laws affect only law-abiding citizens.)

Our research suggests that as many as 500,000 guns are stolen each year in the United States, going directly into the hands of people who are, by definition, criminals.

The data show that a net increase in household gun ownership would mean more homicides and perhaps more burglaries as well. Guns can be sold quickly, and at good prices, on the underground market. (3. When more households have guns for self-defense, crime goes down.)

I personally believe all handguns should be banned in the US. In Vietnam they are, and though I’m sure guns do exist in the country (there are gangs and gangsters here, after all), I have always felt secure that I would never be shot, no matter where I was or what time at night. Maybe it’s all mental? Maybe. Nonetheless, most things are all in our minds.

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Michael Nguyen

Hello! I'm Michael. I write whatever I feel like here, and often do so foolishly.

I am currently a MBA candidate at Kellogg (Northwestern University) and will graduate in August 2015.

In the past, I was COO at Cyworld Vietnam, the country's first social network, co-founded Mimo, a popular Twitter-like service in Vietnam, and helped RedOctane launch the Guitar Hero video game franchise.